I'm planning on buying my first real espresso machine and grinder in the near future. Budget around $5k but slightly flexible.

I'm still debating between the Profitec Pro 700 and Lucca M58. While this thread is intended to be about grinders, I'm open to any input on my machine choices as well. Both machines are around $2.5-3k.

That leaves about $2k for a grinder.

I'm a big fan of bright, fruity, complex coffee with a distinct separation of flavors. From what I've read, I think that I will be more likely to achieve this with a conical grinder. Is that true? Will I still be able to brew a smooth chocolatey espresso on a conical grinder (with the right bean)?

It seems that most of these large conical grinders are intended for cafe use. I'm trying to find the best one to suit my needs at home.

I find myself chasing a grinder with low retention so one of the grinders I'm considering is the Monolith. I especially like the removable magnetic shoot that would basically eliminate any retention. The rave reviews, build quality small footprint and reasonable height make this grinder an excellent choice in my opinion. Unfortunately I'd have to wait until the end of the year to get one from the next batch of orders.

On the hand, could I get a different grinder and just purge about 3 grams of stale/retained beans before every brew session? I'd like to just fill a small hopper with beans and be able to use a timer based grinder to get consistent doses. This leads me to something like the Macap M7D or the Mazzer Kony. I don't think the Kony will fit under my counter with a hopper, so that's not really ideal. The M7D will fit a 1lb hopper with 2" to spare, hardly enough for me to pour beans in but I could probably make it work.

What other questions should I be asking? Anything else should I be considering? Thanks in advance!

Hopefully a owner/user of both can chime in soon but I'll have a stab...
Most accounts I've read seem to indicate that the conical and flat Monoliths are very similar in flavour. Not all flats and conicals follow that same behaviour (there might be an argument for alignment here) and I can say that for my Super Caimano the separation is in the acidity and sweetness area while in the Robur the separation is in the area of chocolate, nut, caramel.
The main choice here seems to be in whether or not you want to fine tune to the "sweetest spot" with the flat (options of speed control and tighter range of particles) or have a slightly wider "sweet spot" with the conical.
It seems like you're still on the fence there?
Single dosing vs hopper dosing are also completely different animals in terms of workflow. With a hopper it might be quicker per shot, but purging between grind changes would be necessary and if beans are left to the open air grind changes are more frequently needed (at least in humid and changing room temperatures). Timers aren't as accurate as scales so the sweet spot may be missed. Are you happier wasting some beans and having another go or take the extra time each time and more likely to get it right the first time?
If you're drinking milk drinks you might not notice the difference...

Would you be open to a manual grinder? Plenty of high quality 68mm conical options out there for ~$1k or less.

Just something to consider.

Otherwise, monolith or k10 would be good options

This became more of a post on the benefits of single dosing, but the summary here is that you couldn't go wrong with a monolith conical.

I can't imagine going back to a non single dosing workflow and the monolith with very little retention and very high consistency supports this.

Single dosing is really great for those that like to keep a stock of different beans in the freezer to keep it varied. Plus my wife always likes to stick with chocolate and comfort flavors in her drinks, so I don't have to stick with that if I'm in a different mood. Not having to do any real special work to pull different beans in two back to back shots is really worth any of the extra effort that single dosing brings. After a short time, it really doesn't even feel like extra work. Weigh, grind, tamp. WDT is even optional after your grinder breaks in in a lot of cases.

I keep bags of different coffees in the freezer* and once I have one dialed in I just write the number on the bag that matches the grind setting. The grind setting is remarkably close for most coffees, really speaking to the grinders consistency. Even sometimes there are weeks between shots for a given coffee, just one quick adjustment to that number and the pull is perfect first try. No dialing it back in.

*Freezing coffee at first required a lot of RDT while I was breaking in the grinder to avoid retention. Now that it is broken in, there is none and grinding straight from the freezer works very well. I prefer it and freezing coffee is gaining lots of traction in the 3rd wave industry about the various benefits to keeping it fresh and creating more fines due to shattering. To be honest, I don't personally taste any benefits in the cup, but I do notice that it stays fresher longer, which is not a new claim, and that I have to grind coarser for the same bean than it would be at room temperature, giving some credibility to the fines claim.

Handgrinder is really not such good idea especially for light roasts. But anyways, for me, hand grinding gets old super fast. Especially when you are trying to dial in coffee it becomes unbearable. You end up drinking sub-par coffee just so you don't have to remake the shot and grind again...

Monolith Flat or Conical will do the thing for you.

Hand grinding isn't for everyone, but I really don't mind it and have been using an un modded Pharos for the past 2 years. Lighter roasts can be somewhat more exertion, but with the right technique it's not bad, and I enjoy the feedback of the bean when grinding, and helps me know if I roasted each origin how I wanted.

That being said, I am waiting on a kinu m68 to be delivered which has a gear reduction making grinding less effort as well as a vertical crank. If you aren't wanting to spend the money or wait that long, manual grinding is an option. You could always get one now while waiting on your monolith, and sell it once you get it and probably resell it close to your purchase price.

If you can, get some hands on experience with the grinders you are wanting so you can see what fits your needs and wants best.

I've ruled out a handgrinder. I use a LIDO 3 for my chemex but for espresso I want the convenience of electric. Thanks for the advice so far. I'm definitely leaning towards the Monolith. Hopefully I can pull some decent shots with my LIDO in the mean time.

What options does Denis provide when ordering? I think I've seen some different colors? Does anyone have an order sheet they could send me?

You will have to wait until he opens preorders back up again. I would think that will happen in August or September, but that is just me guessing.

I'd definitely go with a flat (Really just either a Monolith Flat or an EG-1) for bright fruity beans.

I couldn't be happier w the monolith conical. I have a peak sitting there gathering dust next to it.